Stash Chats – Episode 9: Harriet @SewMeSunshine

Harriet is the owner of popular UK fabric shop Sew Me Sunshine, which stocks an incredible range of fabric. I was excited to welcome her to Stash Chats and see her personal stash of fabric. Surprisingly, it’s a pretty compact collection considering she’s surrounded by beautiful fabric temptation every day!

Here are some highlights from my conversation with Harriet:

Harriet first got into sewing when she was taking a break from her stressful career as an NHS nurse. It was something she’d always been interested to try and her husband encouraged her to sign up to some classes while she had some time on her hands. Quickly after learning how to sew, Harriet discovered a passion for fabric, and had opened her own fabric shop within six months! Sew Me Sunshine has gone from strength to strength and celebrated their 6th business birthday this summer.

I was surprised to discover that Harriet has a relatively small stash, filling one small cabinet. I asked her whether ordering fabric to stock Sew Me Sunshine scratches that fabric shopping itch and she said “definitely!”. Harriet also said that she often reserves a couple of metres of fabric for herself, but then ends up listing it to the website as she feels guilty to take it for her own stash when Sew Me Sunshine customers could use it to make something amazing. In terms of fabric she’s drawn to, Harriet said she loves pinks and also rare or deadstock fabrics she knows she won’t be able to reorder. Liberty designs are also a favouite, and she showed us the fabric we christened the “Illegal Liberty” that was never desined for sale in the UK but Harriet was lucky enough to pick up at the outlet sale in London!

Harriet has been sewing besties with previous Stash Chats guest Joy for many years now. Perhaps they have influenced each other with their compact stashes…

Stash Chats takes place on Instagram Live, usually every Thursday evening at 8pm (UK time). Next time, I’ll be chatting with Kate who runs In a Haystack. This is a digital sewing subscription, which delivers indie sewing patterns, fabric shop discounts and sewing tips straight to your email inbox each month. I’m interested to hear about how Kate discovers all the indie businesses she includes in the packs – and whether this tempts her to add to her stash! Kate has also tried her hand at growing her own flax to spin and weave into handmade linen, so I’m curious to hear more about that process too.

Follow us on Instagram to watch future episode of Stash Chats live and ask our guests questions. Episodes of Stash Chats are also shared to our YouTube channel, so you can catch the episodes you weren’t able to watch live.